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Who's Who - Sir John Jellicoe

Sir John Rushworth Jellicoe (1859-1935)
was Britain's best-known Admiral at the start of the war.

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Born on 5 December 1859 in
Southampton, he joined the Royal Navy in 1872 and served in the Egyptian War
of 1882.

In the years prior to the
war Jellicoe served as Director of Naval Ordnance from 1905-7, and
Controller of the Navy from 1908-10.
Churchill, then
First Lord of the Admiralty, appointed Jellicoe second-in-command of the
Grand Fleet in November 1911.

Jellicoe was
Admiral Fisher's
long-standing choice to lead the grand fleet in wartime, a long-time
assistant of Fisher's in the modernisation of the navy, and was accordingly
appointed its commander on 4 August 1914, replacing
Sir George Callaghan.

Jellicoe's defensive,
cautious approach to naval warfare contrasted markedly with a wider public
expectation of a major naval battle in the North Sea. In this respect
Jellicoe was unfavourably compared with his eventual successor,
Admiral Beatty.

However, the Royal Navy's
primary task was to maintain an economic blockade of Germany; in this
Jellicoe was rather more successful, holding a strategic advantage over the
German High Seas Fleet, largely because of his unwillingness to risk and
lose warships.

Jellicoe's performance at
the Battle of
Jutland in 1916 was viewed with disappointment by many, even as
half-hearted, and his decision to turn away as a precautionary measure from
suspected torpedo attack at the height of the battle came in for particular
criticism. He was placed under some pressure to resign.

Instead Jellicoe was
appointed First Sea Lord - effectively naval chief of staff - towards the
close of 1916, replacing
Sir Henry Jackson. He was uncomfortable in the role, little understanding
its political dimension. He opposed the introduction of convoys for
merchant shipping but worked to devise other anti-submarine measures.

Abruptly removed from
office by Prime Minister
David Lloyd George
on Christmas Eve 1917 in a disagreement over the introduction of convoys in
the Battle of the Atlantic, Jellicoe retired from active service, taking up
the post of Governor General of New Zealand after the war from 1920-24.

Jellicoe published numerous
books following the war, including The Grand Fleet 1914-16 (1919) and
The Crisis of the Naval War (1921).

Sir John Jellicoe died on
20 November 1935 and is buried in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Click
here to read Jellicoe's official report following the Battle of Jutland.